Springfield woman convicted of hot oil attack

A Springfield woman has been sentenced to up to 16 years for breaking into a home and pouring hot cooking oil over another woman and a 3-year-old child as they slept.

Sandra St. John was found guilty Monday by a Hampden Superior Court judge on charges including armed burglary and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in the 2007 attack. St. John was sentenced to 10 to 11 years on the armed burglary charge and three to five on the assault charge. Prosecutors say St. John and the victim both had children by the same man, and she considered the other woman a rival.

St. John maintained her innocence and her lawyer said the victim could not see who poured oil on her because it was dark.